Helminth parasites in stone martens(Martes foina) from Italy

Abstract

The stone marten (Martesfoina Erxleben 1777) is a mustelid that occupies woodland and steppe habitats in central and western Eurasia (BuSKIRK, 1994), and is widespread also in Italy (e. g. DE MARINIS and PANDOLFI, 1995; BERTOLINO and DOPE, 1995).From 1997 to 1999, ten road-killed stone martens (seven adult males and three adult females) were found by gamekeepers in the province of Turin (North-Western Italy, from 45 ° 03' to 45 ° 30' N and from 6 ° 55' to 7 ° 55' E). A complete necropsy was performed in order to find lesions or parasites in the fur, paranasal sinuses, ocular conjunctiva, and all internal organs. Except for traumatic ones, no other gross lesions were found. Parasites were found in seven of the ten martens (Table ). The small intestine harboured one cestode SummaryHelminths are reported from stone martens (Martesfoina Erxleben 1777), road-killed between t997 and 1999 in the province of Turin (North-Western Italy). Out of I0 adult martens, seven were infected by helminths. One cestode (Taenia martis) and three nematode (Molineuspatens, Capillaria sp. and Angiostrongylus sp.) species were identified.

Intestinal parasites in a population of stone marten (Martes foina) in central Spain

“…Such studies are more plentiful at a European level (Soltys, 1962;Shakhmatova, 1966;Libois and Waechter, 1991) but they are generally limited to specific species (Segovia et al, 2007). Several publications have recently appeared from in Central Europe (Koubek et al, 2004a(Koubek et al, , 2004bKornás et al, 2013) and Italy (Millán and Ferroglio, 2001;Ribas et al, 2004), complementing those made in recent decades in Spain -mainly in Catalonia (Miquel, 1993;Miquel et al, 1994aMiquel et al, , 1994b and collected in Aubry et al (2012). Despite the impact that environmental conditions have on the richness and diversity of species (Rosalino et al, 2011), most of these studies have focused on the European Mediterranean basin where Olmedo et al environmental conditions are more favourable but studies of the parasitological fauna in continental climates in current populations appear to be increasing (Massey et al, 2009;Nugaraité et al, 2014;Figuereido et al, 2018).…”

Wild carnivores as source of zoonotic helminths in north-eastern Italy

“…Thanks to their large vagility wild carnivores play a main role in the diffusion of zoonoses, which should not to be understated. Yet only sporadic records on helminths of these carnivores have been available in Italy so far (Iori et al, 1990;Magi et al, 1999;Millan & Ferroglio, 2001;Ribas et al, 2004; .... Rossi et al, 1983;Stancampiano et al, 1998), and mostly referring to populations of central and southern regions. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), badger (Meles meles) and stone marten (Martes foina) are widespread species in the whole of Italy (Boitani et al, 2003); they can colonise different habitats, including anthropogenetic ones.…”

Fatal infection with Taenia martis metacestodes in a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) living in an Italian zoological garden

“…Higher prevalence has been recorded in M. martes in Spain (5.88%) [3] and in O. zibetichus in Belgium (22.2%) [5]. In Italy, at present, T. martis has been reported in M. foina from North-Western (prevalence 33.3%) and Southern Italy [1,6] and in C. glareolus from Calabria Region (Southern Italy) [7]. A case of fatal infection with larval forms of T. martis in a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) from the zoological garden (Bioparco) of Rome is described here.…”

“…Its intermediate hosts are mainly arvicoline and murine rodents. In Europe, adults of this species have been recorded, usually with low prevalence, in Martes martes (pine marten), Martes foina (stone marten) and Mustela putorius (European polecat) [1][2][3], while Clethrionomys glareolus (bank vole), Microtus agrestis (field vole), Apodemus sylvaticus (wood mouse) and Ondatra zibethicus (muskrat) act as intermediate hosts [3][4][5]. Higher prevalence has been recorded in M. martes in Spain (5.88%) [3] and in O. zibetichus in Belgium (22.2%) [5].…”